Venting Over The Latest

What is the difference between September 11, 2001 and August 10, 2006?

It may well be that the only major difference between those two dates is that today the good guys caught the bad guys before they were able to complete their mission.

Granted, I have not seen anything yet that indicates that today was to be the actual day that the plot to destroy commercial aircraft in mid-flight and commit mass murder – just uncovered and thwarted by a joint MI5 and CIA operation – was to be carried out. But the action taken by British authorities does indicate that the threat was “imminent,” which suggests it was caught shortly before being carried out.

I still continue to be amazed at the fact that there are those out there who refuse to accept the fact that we are in a state of war. Never mind the fact that the administration has made the decision to fight the war with as little disruption to the lives of citizens as possible, thus enabling them to feel comfortable despite the danger. All one has to do is look at the news.

And I don’t mean the news out of Iraq, either. The debate will continue to rage over whether we ought to be there at all, and over whether, being there, the war is being managed as effectively as it could be. Leave all that aside. One need not look to Baghdad and Fallujah to see that war exists throughout the world, regardless of what is going on in Saddam’s old stomping grounds.

As to whether a full-fledged war on the west by Muslim fanatics has been going on for decades is a point for another discussion as well. But certainly since 9/11, with follow-up attacks in Bali, Madrid, and London, as well as plots that were caught before they were carried out leaves no doubt that a war – for survival – is what we’ve got, and have had for the past five years. And it’s time we started acting like it – something we haven’t done yet.

I remember hearing the historian Shelby Foote give his assessment of the hopelessness of the Confederate cause in the American Civil War. He summed it up by saying that the Union fought the war with one hand tied behind its back. Had the outcome come to be too much in doubt, the Union would have simply pulled out its other hand and finished the job.

Fighting with one hand behind our back is what we’ve been doing for the past five years. It’s one thing to treat regional conflicts or uprisings in this way. It’s quite another to do this when the issue is a global war, a World War, for the very survival of our way of life.

I understand that many in the U.S., and some of the dozen or so who read this, do not see it that way. But if you feel that way, with all due respect, you are wrong, if for no other reason than the fact that our enemies see it that way. Listen to the rhetoric and verbiage coming out of the heart of the movement that carries out these attacks. If these people were to achieve their goals, eradication of our way of life, and of us, is exactly what would take place. Besides, since when did having to live with terrorists killing our women, children, and aged become an accepted part of our way of life?

And I understand somewhat the desire on the part of President Bush to keep the disruption of American lives to a minimum. I’ve noted before how that, in earlier wars people were urged to donate their scrap metal and cut back on their use of energy, while in this war Americans have been urged to see a Broadway show. And were it possible to win the war decisively while still enabling the people to go about life as usual, that would certainly be the preferable route. But I fear more and more that such is not possible. Besides, a bomb going off in the heart of Chicago or Philadelphia would be a pretty significant disruption in the lives of citizens as well, don’t you think?

I am not one who believes we are losing the war. I am one who fears the war is settling into a stalemate, with neither side – as they are currently fighting – mustering the strength (or will) to deliver the final crushing blow to the other side. In such a scenario, more lives will be lost than if we were to go ahead and press the matter fully.

Most reasonable people have known for some time that this is a war that would take years to fight. And most reasonable people are okay with that, so long as we demonstrate a commitment to not allow the winning of it to drag out longer than is necessary, so as to prevent needless effusion of blood.

If we mean to have an America at the end of this conflict that resembles the America we had at the beginning, it’s time to take the advice of former U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander James Lyons and take “decisive, resolute action,” and unleash “our full military capabilities.”

The people we are fighting in this war have been produced by a culture that is different from our own. They will not get tired of the fighting, so long as they believe they can ultimately get what they want. They will not lay down their arms until they become convinced that they are soundly defeated. We in the west have the means to deliver such a blow. Postponing the delivering of that blow only means more innocent civilians, in many countries, will die needlessly.

I hate war. I hate the bloodshed. And, yes, I hate the disruption it causes to the normal routines of life. But my hatred of war is all the more reason to support action that will bring it to a conclusion as quickly as possible. Let’s get on with it.

I don’t know how many more successes the terrorists have to have before the west wakes up. I don’t know how many more children will be targeted and taken out by our barbarous enemies before we decide to fight on an all-encompassing scale that demonstrates that we really mean it when we say we want to remove the threat of terrorism as a means for certain cowardly sects to advance their “agenda.” If more such tragedies have to occur for us to get our anatomies in gear, so be it. But I, for one, would rather our government – which was established to protect our “life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness” – as well as others with the ability to make a difference go ahead and get the job done without waiting for another 9/11, 3/11, or 7/7.